Dirty Little Rabbits was an American

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band formed in 2007 in

Johnston, Iowa Johnston is a city in Polk County, Iowa, United States. The population was 24,064 in the 2020 census, an increase of 178% from the 8,649 population in 2000. It is part of the Des Moines– West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area. Johnst ...

. They are often referred to as a side project of

Shawn Crahan Michael Shawn Crahan (born September 24, 1969), more commonly known by his stage persona "Clown", is an American musician. He is the co-founder and one of two percussionists for heavy metal band Slipknot in which he is designated #6. Crahan he ...

, a member and founder of heavy metal band Slipknot.

History

In 2008, fellow Slipknot band member

Sid Wilson Sidney George Wilson (born January 20, 1977) is an American musician. He is the turntablist for the heavy metal band Slipknot, in which he is designated #0. Wilson was the youngest member of the band until bassist Alessandro Venturella and dru ...

introduced

to future Slipknot member Michael Pfaff, and along with a few other musicians, they had a

jam session A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without exte ...

together. Crahan himself said that during the session he could only focus on Pfaff and how they both played together, explaining that "it was the way he was throwing his shapes, to my shapes." Shortly after meeting with Pfaff, Crahan introduced guitarist Ty Fury to the project. Crahan had previously worked with Fury on a band he was a part of in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, but recruited him for Dirty Little Rabbits. Around the same time, Pfaff brought bassist Jeff Karnowski in to the band. After this, they realized they would need a vocalist. After going through a couple of other singers, Crahan recruited

Stella Katsoudas Stella Katsoudas (born November 3, 1971) is a Greek-American pop and rock singer better known for stage names Stella Soleil and Sister Soleil as well as having been frontwoman for Dirty Little Rabbits. Katsoudas most recently released the 2015 ...

, who was living in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

at the time. Crahan and Katsoudas had known each other for "a long, long time" and had agreed to meet up "just as friends," but Crahan revealed upon meeting that he wanted her to join the band. After writing together and developing the band, they began performing shows in the midwest of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. On August 15, 2007 they released their debut EP, ''

Breeding Breeding is sexual reproduction that produces offspring, usually animals or plants. It can only occur between a male and a female animal or plant. Breeding may refer to: * Animal husbandry, through selected specimens such as dogs, horses, and rab ...

'' independently. Following this, through August and September they supported

Stone Sour Stone Sour is an American rock band formed in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1992. The band performed for five years before disbanding in 1997. They reunited in 2000 and since 2015, the group has consisted of Corey Taylor (lead vocals, guitar), Josh Rand ...

on a tour of the United States. Dirty Little Rabbits continued to tour in 2008, with their own shows through February and May and in support of

Mindless Self Indulgence Mindless Self Indulgence (often referred to as MSI) is an American electropunk band formed in New York City in 1997. Their music has a mixed style which includes punk rock, alternative rock, electronica, techno, industrial, hip hop, and breakb ...

in June. Through July and August drummer Crahan was touring with Slipknot as part of the

Mayhem Festival The Mayhem Festival was a touring Heavy metal music, heavy metal festival that took place during the summer. The inaugural season took place in 2008; the festival later became an annual event across the United States. Most years also included a ...

and as a result Dirty Little Rabbits temporarily went on hiatus. After signing with

The End Records The End Records is a record label in Manhattan that specializes in rock, heavy metal, indie, and electronic music. Early years (1998–2005) The End Records was founded by Andreas Katsambas in Pasadena, California, with the goal of helping sm ...

, Dirty Little Rabbits began working on an album at Sound Farm Studio in September while Crahan's other band Slipknot took a break from touring. They released their second EP; ''

Simon Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

'' on January 27, 2009, and they planned to release a full-length album in April. On July 31, 2009 Dirty Little Rabbits were scheduled to perform their first show outside of the US with

Lacuna Coil Lacuna Coil is an Italian gothic metal band from Milan. Since their formation in 1994, the group has had two name changes, being previously known as Sleep of Right and Ethereal, and they have recorded nine studio albums, two extended plays, two ...

in Ireland, and then the United Kingdom, as well as appearing at the

Sonisphere Festival The Sonisphere Festival was a touring rock music festival which took place across Europe between the months of June and August. The festival was owned by John Jackson and Kilimanjaro Live. It was jointly promoted by K2 and Kilimanjaro Live. It ...

in August. However, the band canceled both appearances due to exhaustion. Crahan explained, "After weeks of going all over the world and playing some of the biggest shows of my career with his other band Slipknot) and now being in the home stretch on completing the Dirty Little Rabbits debut album, I'm just mentally and physically drained." Dirty Little Rabbits released their self-titled debut album on July 6, 2010 via The End Records. Also in 2010, Ryan Martin joined the band, replacing Ty Fury as guitarist. The band performed at the Vans

Warped Tour The Warped Tour was a traveling rock tour that toured the United States plus three or four stops in Canada annually each summer from 1995 until 2019. It was the largest traveling music festival in the United States and the longest-running touring ...

from July 20 to August 5 that summer. The played their last show on 23rd October 2010.

Musical style

Dirty Little Rabbits' musical style is considerably different from Crahan's most notable band, Slipknot. Crahan explained in an interview in 2008 that he is an "alternative person in art and music" and that he did not grow up obsessed with metal. He went on to explain that other members of Slipknot are obsessed with metal and that he "went with it" because it was different for him and he could introduce them to something different. He describes Dirty Little Rabbits as the band he has been waiting his whole life for. He made a particular point about the fact that they have a female singer and that he has always wanted to be in a band with a female singer, because he wants to "represent the whole world, male and female."

Band members

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

(2007–2010) *

Michael Pfaff Michael Pfaff is an American musician, best known as one of the two current percussionists of heavy metal music, heavy metal band Slipknot (band), Slipknot. He was also a member of the alternative rock band Dirty Little Rabbits as their keyboar ...

–

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

s, organ (2007–2010) * Jeff Karnowski – bass (2007–2010) *

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

(2007–2010) * Ryan Martin –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

s (2010) ;Former members * Ty Fury – guitars (2007–2010)

Discography

; Studio albums * ''

Dirty Little Rabbits Dirty Little Rabbits was an American alternative rock band formed in 2007 in Johnston, Iowa. They are often referred to as a side project of Shawn Crahan, a member and founder of heavy metal music, heavy metal band Slipknot (band), Slipknot. His ...

'' (2010) ; EPs * ''

'' (2007) * ''

'' (2009)

References

External links

Official website

Official MySpace profile
{{Authority control Indie rock musical groups from Iowa Alternative rock groups from Iowa Musical groups established in 2007 American psychedelic rock music groups